Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York City, has introduced some new building initiatives in order to combat the rising rate of obesity in the city. The new standards call for the promotion of "Active Design", a move to shape the already built environment to encourage exercise and physical activity.
According to the New York Daily, one of the new standards urges builders and architects to make buildings with visible and accessible staircases that will push people to walk to their floors instead of standing in an elevator. Another proposed initiative requires buildings to have open stairwells for emergencies.
However, both the proposed initiatives need City Council approval.
Bloomberg also launched a partnership called the "Center for Active Design" with the New School University that will promote active building designs for future residential and public structures. He made the announcement in a press meet at the university, which is building the new center on Fifth Avenue.
"New York City has been a leader when it comes to promoting healthier eating and now we're leading when it comes to encouraging physical activity as well. Physical activity and healthy eating are the two most important factors in reducing obesity and these steps are part of our ongoing commitment to fighting this epidemic," Bloomberg said at the press meet.
The Mayor was joined by City Council Speaker, Christine C. Quinn and many other University and association officials.
"Even small changes to the way we design our city can greatly increase physical activity and in turn, combat obesity. We must seize every opportunity possible to end New York City's obesity epidemic. To that end, the City Council is pleased to help fund active design initiatives, and proud to have worked on the development of legislation to promote stairway usage through the Green Codes Task Force. I especially want to thank the Mayor, the Department of Design and Construction, and the Department of Health for their efforts to incorporate active design in our environment and for their overall commitment to improving the well-being of New Yorkers," Quinn added in the statement.
More recently, some new building standards were also sketched out by Bloomberg and his team to make the city more resilient to natural calamities.
Bloomberg has always been a health evangelist. Apparently, he himself uses stairs to climb to his fifth-floor townhouse apartment, reports The Blaze.
The new initiatives come amid reports of alarmingly high levels of obesity in the country. In a recent study conducted by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the U.S. was ranked the second most obese country with a 31.8 percent obesity rate.
